Nigeria is likely to buy JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat aircraft from Pakistan. The oil-rich West African country has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that covers the sale of the aircraft.

The deal is expected to be finalised in November, during the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar in Karachi, IHS Jane's reported quoting a senior official of Pakistan's Defence Export Promotion Organisation.

The total number of aircraft that Nigeria might be ordering is still not known. The official declined to reveal if Nigeria will be the first export operator of the aircraft given the fact that Myanmar too has ordered them, but from China.